Don’t add insult to injury

Dear Editor:This letter is in response to Amy Krakow’s poor excuse for a letter to the editor on Nov. 17. Not only should Krakow be ashamed of herself for adding insult to injury to the whole situation with CARE and Buster, but she ought to do her homework before adding new layers of lies and misconceptions surrounding the incident. First, CARE has stated repeatedly that it has no intentions of putting down Buster without further review and careful scrutiny of the situation by a group of animal experts. Secondly, the December deadline was not set by CARE itself but by the National Humane Society and ASPCA, who in response to the Hurricane Katrina situation and the huge influx of animals, recommended that shelters around the country wait to Dec. 15 before making any decisions about the fate of rescued animals in their care. Third, despite what many people believe, this is not a conspiracy by CARE to kill Buster, and in fact, CARE has been working around the clock to try to reunite all of the dogs that were brought back with their owners – a fact that seems to have gone unnoticed amidst all the knee-jerk reactionism going around.Furthermore, Krakow’s negativity and blame only further serve to denigrate the efforts, hard work and dedication by CARE’s staff (of which my wife is one), who were already overworked and underappreciated long before this incident arose. It may also come as a surprise to Krakow that in the state of Colorado alone, 40,000 animals a year are put to sleep by shelters due to overcrowding, aggressive behavior and other factors, yet I don’t hear her complaining about any of them. If Krakow truly cares about the animals rescued during Hurricane Katrina she might consider helping CARE and the other shelters in the valley with their volunteer efforts instead of spending her time writing angry and hurtful letters to the editor.Kai MalloyGlenwood Springs